Highly Regarded M&A Partner Joins Latham & Watkins in Riyadh
Latham & Watkins1 is pleased to announce that Leen Zaza has joined the firm’s Riyadh office as a partner in the M&A and Private Equity Practice. Zaza regularly advises Saudi and international companies, private equity firms, investors, and government bodies on a variety of complex transactions, with a particular focus on private M&A, joint ventures, divestments, corporate governance, and corporate regulatory and advisory matters.
“Leen is a highly regarded practitioner with first-class technical skills and a wealth of experience advising on some of the region’s most significant strategic M&A and private equity transactions,” said Salman Al-Sudairi, Managing Partner of the MENA Region at Latham & Watkins. “Her broad practice spans important sectors that are central to Saudi Arabia’s ambitious growth plans, and she will be a terrific addition to our strong and growing team.”
Zaza has significant experience advising on high-profile transactions across a variety of industries, including energy and infrastructure, shipping, industrials, healthcare and life sciences, e-commerce, real estate, and retail. She also regularly counsels boards and senior executives on general corporate regulatory and advisory work.
“Latham & Watkins’ transactional capability in the Middle East is among the very best and the firm is known for its deep industry knowledge, cutting-edge work on transformational deals, and highly skilled teams,” said Charles Ruck, Global Chair of Latham & Watkins’ Corporate Department. “Saudi Arabia is a major global financial and commercial hub and represents an important pillar of our global strategy. Leen’s track record, connections, and experience are highly complementary to the firm’s, and we are delighted to welcome her to the team.”
Zaza’s arrival represents the latest investment the firm has made in Riyadh, following the promotion of Project Development & Finance counsel Marc Makary and Derek McKinley and White Collar Defense & Investigations associate Abdullah Alsaeed to partner. The firm has been operating in the Middle East since 2008 and was recently granted a Regional Headquarters (RHQ) License by the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia.
Zaza joins Latham from Khoshaim & Associates. She received her LLB and LLM from the University of Bristol.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
1 Latham & Watkins operates worldwide as a limited liability partnership organized under the laws of the State of Delaware (USA) with affiliated limited liability partnerships conducting the practice in France, Hong Kong, Italy, Singapore, and the United Kingdom and as an affiliated partnership conducting the practice in Japan. Latham & Watkins operates in Israel through a limited liability company, in South Korea as a Foreign Legal Consultant Office, and in Saudi Arabia through a limited liability company.